


As Easy as Reading a Book

by AgentFrostbite



Series: Strike Team Adventures [2]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Body Language, Gen, Strike Team, Strike Team Antics, Team as Family, This is a really cool idea and I've kinda butchered it/not done it justice, kinda sorta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-20 17:21:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21285356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentFrostbite/pseuds/AgentFrostbite
Summary: There wasn't a clearly defined start to the thing, just a moment of epiphany.Short story overview of the Strike Team learning each other's nuances.
Series: Strike Team Adventures [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1332706
Kudos: 9





	As Easy as Reading a Book

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I'm alive; no, I'm not promising a regular posting schedule. I just finished turning all my browser bookmarks into Ao3 bookmarks, and I noticed my low fic count, and I went, "Hey, I wanna post something." Viola! This _could_ be longer, and I'll probably do a polished and expanded version at some point (_with_ the Trine), but I just really wanted to put something up that didn't require a heck-ton of explanation or editing. Enjoy!

There wasn't a clearly defined start to the whole thing, just a moment of epiphany. The moment when Nikki realized she had been reading Laserbeak's emotions through his wings. The moment when Laserbeak realized he'd been reading Nikki's emotions through her stance. The moment when they realized they both had a moment of epiphany. It became a part of their dynamic, and they moved on as if the shift wasn't important. It was, but at that point, they were still both trying to look like they could take anything in stride.

Then Knock Out had joined, and all of the sudden, the whole non-verbal cue thing became _very_ important. Nikki was still learning how to project to two minds instead of just one, without letting on she was communicating telepathically. Laserbeak was learning what it meant to be a _disciplined_ SHIELD agent. Knock Out was learning how to work as part of a team, and not a duo or solo act. They learned each other slowly, by bits and pieces, and the extent of their knowledge went, once again, undiscovered until they had a conversation – while Fury was briefing them – with nothing but posture shifting, eyebrow raises, and optic rolls.

It was a proud moment. Looking back, Nikki would say it was one of the first moments she _knew_ the Strike Team thing was going to work.

Ravage was a whole different level of body language, and the flick of a tail could mean anything from him being annoyed to him being unsettled. If Laserbeak hadn't been a more than willing translator, they might never have gotten the cybercat figured out. Likewise, without Laserbeak's actions to cue off of, Ravage would never have told the different between Nikki's 'hurt' arm-cross and her 'angered' one. Three became four. There was a period of learning, then a period of mastery, and then a conversation without words.

Soundwave had brought Frenzy, Rumble, and a different kind of closed-off. The twins, for all their loud, boisterous, and ingenious shenanigans, were well-trained in the art of giving nothing away. They were almost as skilled in the art of _lying_ with their body language, and during the first couple months, Nikki and Knock Out more often than not found themselves lied to through meek demeanors and brusque shoulder shrugs. But Ravage and Laserbeak were the twins' family long before they became part of the Avengers family, and while the cat made Nikki work for whatever clues he gave as to what a certain shift to the left meant, Laserbeak was a more forgiving teacher, mentally feeding Nikki all the information she needed to know to read his family like he could.

She recognized the gift for what it was, and thanked him deeply for it. It was just another debt between them that neither could ever repay.

Marcus radiated guilt more than anything, so reading him was about as successful as someone who only knew English reading a Taiwanese manuscript written by someone with terrible penmanship. It was only after Marcus was revealed as Megatron, only after the guilt made sense and then was slowly drained away by insistent affection and acceptance (on many people's parts), that any of them – save Soundwave – could read him at all. His cues were much subtler than anyone else's – once again, save Soundwave – but they were there, and over time, they learned to react to a twitch of his hand as fast as they would the obvious clenching of Nikki's fists.

Ripclaw, on the other hand, needed to be taught what subtle body language was. She was a very willing and capable student, and the teaching period went by quickly and was missed when it was over.

By the time Buzzsaw was introduced to the team – reintroduced in Soundwave and his family's case – habits and cues were so easily picked up on that the only challenge was learning what the cues signified. It wasn't too hard. Laserbeak was still mainlining information to Nikki – who had, at this point, learned how to read her entire team's minds and carry on separate conversations with each of them at the same time, whilst keeping each conversation secret from the others, _while_ keeping secret that she was even having a telepathic conversation in the first place – so Nikki picked up on the cues quickly. It was only a short period of time where Knock Out, Ripclaw, and Megatron had to respond off Nikki's responses to Buzzsaw's cues, rather than picking up and discerning for themselves what the cues meant.

So when the inevitable disaster that dragged Autobots and Strike Team together for a joint effort rolled around, the team had never been more cohesive. It was eventually Moonracer who, after watching them all come to a unanimous decision without saying a word, finally snapped and asked, "How the slag are you all _doing that_? Talking without words or comm channels?"

"Body language," Nikki answered casually. "Years of watching and training and listening." This was followed by some kind of cue from Ravage that earned him a half-hearted glare from Nikki and a chuckle from the twins, and those in the room who didn't decide on trying to learn the secret language as well decided to leave it alone. It couldn't hurt anyone, after all, and who knows? It might come in handy sometime.

For something _other _than pranks and inside jokes.

Hopefully.


End file.
